In recreational pools, such as swimming pools, spas or whirlpools, it is typical to use a pool cleaning apparatus that employs a skimmer. The skimmer housing is mounted to an outside surface of the sidewall of the pool and includes a filter means for cleaning the water within the pool after it is drawn through the skimmer. A faceplate is mounted to the inside surface of the pool and has a generally large opening that is sealed with respect to the inside surface of the pool wall and is generally located at the surface water level. The skimmer includes means for creating a vacuum within the housing so that the surface water continuously flows from the pool surface into the housing and then through the pool filtering equipment and then back into the pool by means of another opening or outlet port generally located below the surface level of the water.
The skimmer housing assembly is mounted behind the pool wall and the faceplate is fastened to the opposite surface of the pool wall, such as by screws that pass through the faceplate and the pool wall, and is threaded into the skimmer housing assembly. A gasket may be positioned between the faceplate and the pool wall for an additional watertight seal. In this manner, a seal is provided between the faceplate, the pool wall, and the skimmer housing.
During initial construction of the skimmer assembly, it is not uncommon for the screws that mount the faceplate to the pool to become loose a short time after initial installation. Periodically, the owner of the pool must retighten these fasteners in order to maintain the seal and to prevent leakage of water behind the skimmer faceplate and housing. Typically, this retightening procedure must occur during the winter months in the North, for example, when the pool has been covered-over for the winter months. Moreover, in order to prevent water from freezing within the skimmer assembly and damaging the typically plastic components due to expansion of the ice within the skimmer, the skimmer assembly must be evacuated to prevent the build-up of ice within the skimmer. Additionally, within many pools, it is important to maintain the level of water within the pool so as to provide support for the walls of an in-ground pool, for example.
In order to close off the opening of the skimmer, closure assemblies have been developed to cover the faceplate prior to the evacuation of water from the skimmer so that the level of water within the pool remains generally consistent with the level of the faceplate. However, the re-tightening procedure necessitates the owner removing the cover from the pool and accessing the screws around the outer periphery of the skimmer faceplate. Examples of such closure assemblies are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,913,810, 5,285,538 and 5,937,453. However, if the pool owner needs to retighten the screws around the faceplate, for example, if a leak occurs between the faceplate and pool wall, these cover assemblies need to be removed in order to access the screws. Since these cover assemblies fit over the faceplates, and hence over the screws, it is necessary to remove the faceplate to access the screws. This then allows water to flow into the skimmer assembly during the cold winter months and requires re-evacuation of the skimmer.
What is needed, then, is a pool skimmer faceplate cover that completely seals off the skimmer, while allowing access to the screws for retightening by the pool owner.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the above-mentioned problems.